The Beads

After designing a piece, a lampworker must carefully plan how to construct it. Once ready to begin, the lampworker slowly introduces a glass rod into the flame of their gas fuelled torch to prevent cracking from thermal shock.

The glass is heated until molten, wound around a coated steel mandrel, forming the base bead. The coating is an anti-fluxing bead release that will allow the bead to be easily removed from the mandrel. It can then be embellished or decorated using a variety of techniques and materials.

All parts of the bead must be kept at similar temperatures lest they shatter. Once finished it must be annealed in a kiln to prevent cracking or shattering.

Annealing, in glass terms, is heating a piece until its temperature reaches a stress-relief point, that is, a temperature at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for internal stresses to ease.

The bead is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is uniform throughout. The time necessary for this depends on the type of glass and thickness of the thickest section.

It is then slowly cooled at a predetermined rate until its temperature is below a critical point, at which it can't generate internal stresses, and then can safely be dropped to room temperature. This relieves the internal stresses, resulting in a bead which should last for many years.

Glass which has not been annealed may crack or shatter due to a seemingly minor temperature change or other shock or for no apparent reason at all.

Glass Candy's Lampwork Beads are all annealed in a Paragon Kiln and all bead holes are cleaned of bead release prior to being used in any piece of jewellery.

This bead has not been annealed properly and has cracked as a result.